Power outage in Vizag's King George Hospital underlines need for contingency plan
VISAKHAPATNAM: Patients at King George Hospital (KGH), the largest public healthcare facility in North Coastal AP, found themselves enduring a nightmare on Thursday when a major power outage plunged several wards into darkness, cut off water supply and halted vital medical services for almost ten hours.
The disruption, triggered around 2 pm after a critical underground cable was damaged during construction works, was finally resolved close to midnight.
Akula Vijaya Lakshmi, a brain tumour patient admitted to the Rajendra Prasad female ward, said, “There was no power, no water, and absolutely no airflow. I could not even get my MRI done. The doctors told us the issue would be sorted soon, but nine hours passed. We come to government hospitals only because we cannot afford private care — but this felt unbearable.”
She added, “Children and critical patients were crying or unable to express their discomfort. One woman in our ward became unresponsive for some time. Another family fled the hospital and returned only Friday morning. My husband had to bring a hand fan just to help me breathe.”
Mahesh, whose relative is being treated for a cardiac ailment, called it “the worst day” of their stay. “No light, no fans, no water — we didn’t know how to help our patient,” he said.
KGH Superintendent Dr Vani said, “Backup generators ensured all critical areas were powered. The unfortunate death of a 45-year-old woman yesterday was due to liver complications and not linked to the outage.” Teams from APEPDCL and hospital authorities worked through the evening to trace and repair the fault. Electricity was restored to all blocks by 11.45 pm.
The KGH blackout exposed fragile hospital infrastructure, sparking demands for stricter safeguards, better construction monitoring, and stronger contingency plans. Serving Andhra, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh, families warned any future disruption could again endanger lives within minutes.